Frequently Asked Questions

When I am snorkeling in Hawaii, can I pick up my gear on one island and then return it to a different island?Yes, I, Snorkel Bob, have FREE 24-Hour Interisland Express Gear Return! Take your gear with you and you’re ready to snorkel when you land on the next island! If you don’t want to schlep your gear, boogie board, chair or wetsuit on the plane, use Interisland Pick Up (IPU) for $5 per set/item & get fresh gear on the next island! Store Locations

How long are your rental periods?Gear rentals are based on a 24-hour period. That applies for weekly as well as daily rentals. So if you rent at noon on Monday, its due back at noon the following Monday. Or by the day––you rent on Monday at noon, its due back Tuesday at noon. Gear returned after return date/time will incur late fees.

In reading your website I was really happy to see you have prescription goggles. Frankly, I hadn’t thought of that. Whats the drill on snorkeling if you wear eye glasses needed for distance?That means you’re nearsighted (you can see near but not distant) and our SEAMO BETTA™ with Rx lenses work great. We have those in stock at all stores. If you have astigmatism you may want to get custom ground lenses for your mask. But generally, unless your astigmatism is real bad, the stock lenses work fine, and are 100 times better than what you’ll see without them. Custom Lenses for SEAMO BETTA™ Rx Mask are available special order.

I’m considering buying one of your gear packages for a trip I’m going on. If I decide to take dive lessons later in the summer will this be appropriate stuff?
Snorkel Bob Brand products are made for both snorkeling and SCUBA diving. They are the highest quality snorkel/dive products on the market today.

If I wear contacts should I be really concerned about leaks?
Yes and no. Yes, if your mask doesn’t fit well you will have a problem. No if you get a good fitting mask (like with me, Snorkel Bob) you should not have a problem. Lot’s of people snorkel with contacts. You might also consider a SEAMO BETTA™Rx mask with Rx lenses. Then you won’t have to worry about your lenses AND you’ll be able to see!

Do you have a phone number for orders? Can I have it FedEx’d? His birthday is in 1 week!!!
Yes, it’s TOLL FREE 1-800-262-7725, and yes, we ship FedEx or Priority Mail. We ship out the same day if we receive your phone order by 11am H.S.T. or if not the next day. Click here for more Customer Service information.

I am looking for children’s snorkel fin in child’s size 12 or 13. I also need a snorkel that would fit a child’s mouth. Most have been too big.
I, Snorkel Bob, have big flips, little flips, and baby flips too! Yes, we have child’s size 11-13. AND our Li’l Bubba™ snorkels with small mouthpieces. And for our full figured fella’s (adults) we have fins up to our Big Foot’s size 15-17!

Do you have daily rates for your Hawaii gear packages?
Yes we have 24 hour rates. $2.50 for Budget Crunch, $10.00 for Split Level, $11.00 for Ultimate Truth & $14.00 for Rx set. MoflO2 snorkels are $4 per day. The rates at our Oahu(Honolulu) store are slightly higher on some items.

Fairwind II sails to Kealakekua Bay.

A couple of years ago, we went snorkeling in Maui on one of your sailboats. Do you have the same thing in Kona? We will be there next week so your reply is welcomed. If you have that type of boat, what are the costs and times?
We handle several boats in Kona most of which are sailing catamaran(very stable and comfortable). If we don’t have them posted on our website menu under Hawaii Adventures, email us and we’ll send you reservation information.

Hello, I wanted to purchase a snorkel gear gift certificate for some friends that are going to Kauai. Please contact me and let me know if you do this. I would just reserve the gear, but I’m not sure what location they will use or how many days they might want it.
We have gift certificates available ONLINE in the online store. They come in $25 chunks and you can get as many as you’d like.

We will be in the Big Island 6 days and Kauai 6 days. Where will be the best and safest place for me to try snorkeling again? What is the address of your store there?
We have a whole“map’n tips” section for each island which show the best/safest snorkel spots and store locations too. We always recommend stopping by the store for your gear and also to pick the brains of our staff for places to go.

Is there ever a problem with availability? I am sure you would recommend reserving the equipment, but are we running a chance of your being out of equipment if we wait until we arrive?
I, Snorkel Bob, have a huge inventory of gear at all stores at all times, even during Spring Break, Christmas or Tu b’Shevat. It’s recommended to reserve for 2 reasons. 1 is for you––you get a FREEBIE of your choice when you make Online Reservations, and 2 is for me, Snorkel Bob––so I can plan ahead and be even more ready for you, my friends.

I wear a woman’s size 8 shoe and my husband a man’s size 10, what size fins do we need to get?
Generally fins are made in men’s sizes, so a woman needs to buy down 1 size category. For example a woman’s size 8 shoe best fits in a size 5-7 fins. Men’s size 10 best fits in size 9-11 fins. So you’re probably thinking, what about a women’s size 7 shoe, same thing much more than likely––5-7 fins. There is a bit of leeway on fins fitting, but generally snug is the preferred fit. Here’s a link to our sizing chart for fins.

Does the MoflO2™ FRESH-AIR SNORKEL let water go down the tube when you dive underwater?
The MoflO2™ FRESH-AIR SNORKEL is also very dry in that it greatly decreases water from entering the tube while on the surface. However, it is important in well designed snorkel NOT TO SHUT OFF WHILE UNDERWATER, because an effect called MOUTH SQUEEZE will result which is undesirable and possibly dangerous.